Reunion
by sharpe26
Summary: Castle has to do a job for Montgomery. And why is everybody looking at him like that? One shot as I got a little sidetracked on from the diaries of Nikki Heat.


A reunion of a different kind

Watching the elevator doors to the homicide floor the of the 12th precinct open Richard Castle felt a sense of elation. He was back amongst his true friends, or so he felt. He also felt wonder. Why was everybody looking at him like that?

Near the junction to the break room and the office of the Captain, he spotted the man himself, waiting. And Roy Montgomery looked pissed, beyond belief.

The look was clear, _my office_, _yesterday!_

Without saying a word, Castle obediently followed him in. To his surprise Roy Montgomery closed the door behind him.

" Sit down, Mr Castle." This time, Castle hastened himself.

" I can't say I'm happy to see you back now." Castle frowned but kept his cool, years of getting kicked out of the city of New York's finer educational institutions had thought him when to keep his mouth shut in the principal's office.

An NYPD captain was no different in that aspect. And was it him, or did Montgomery just say something about him costing the 12th a detective?

" Excuse me, but what happened?"

" It, happened during a raid. One of the suspects got lucky and hit a spot that wasn't protected by the vest. Paramedics were on time for once though."

Castle exhaled to relax. He hadn't lost a friend, yet and wasn't about to start in this way. Yet why was Montgomery so upset?

" The reason you're here is you're getting a notice. No more office screw ups like Detective Beckett, Castle. Are we clear on this?"

He nodded his consent " Crystal! Is there anything else, sir?"

" Yes, you helped out before. Help out again, I want my detective back." With that said Roy Montgomery gave Richard Castle his marching orders.

Castle followed them to the letter. When he got to the hospital parking lot he noticed a familiar car in the parking lot pulling out as he got there. It was the vehicle of one Lanie Parish ME. Castle wondered briefly if she hadn't seen his car but then he had other things to do then worry about that.

Having parked his car Castle entered the hospital and made his way to a ward on the sixth floor.

As he walked through the hallway he couldn't help but notice how strange the nurses looked at him.

What was going on here?

Up ahead was room 124. Politely and respectfully, Castle knocked. The door was ajar and drifted

open at the first knock.

" Hello?" as respectfully and quietly as possible Castle walked inside. Judging from the sound of the machines present, the detective wasn't out of the woods yet. He noticed they a curtain partially drawn around the bed.

Slowly, as not to disturb, Castle pulled on the curtains.

The shape of the legs made the detective a female one. As her hands and arms came into view, Castle briefly wondered how the human body reacted to so much poking with needles as he pulled even further on the curtain.

The rest of her body was in good shape he noticed, but then from his earlier adventures with Beckett he knew all cops would have to be due to job demands.

It was then and there that he knew what the end of the world felt like as the face of the shot detective came into view.

" No!"

" No, not you Kate!" Castle didn't notice that he began to slide down to the floor, sobbing all the way. He felt his eyes getting heavy and his surroundings turning dark and then there was that really sharp pain on his right ear lobe.

" Apples! Apples! Apples!"

He woke as if hit by a jolt of electricity. From the corner of his right eye he spotted the arm. Her arm to be more precise.

" Nightmare?" the voice that owned the arm shifted in the bed and the shapely form of Kate Beckett leaned somewhat closer to him. " You have to stop those late night spicy writing snacks, Castle."

Castle stood up and crawled back into bed. " You're right, that's the third time this week I've had that similar nightmare."

He noticed how Kate had already shifted back to her side of the bed. A soft snoring indicating that she was already sound asleep again. Castle briefly eyed the sleeping form of his girlfriend and considered himself the luckiest man on the planet. With that picture on his mind, he drifted back to sleep him self.

FIN


End file.
